Chicken deep bedding - when to use?

Dec 2, 2020
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I have 5 yards of chicken bedding in a hoop house coop that hasn’t been used since October. 2 months leading up to this point it had 1-3 chickens in it.

Prior, it was the primary coop and had up to 50 chickens - chicks and adults.

I’ve accepted the 1,000 sq feet I am using for a garden is basically unusable soil without significant amendment. It’s clay. I applied gypsum yesterday. 40lbs of pellets. From research, it isn’t magic, but will help.

Cost is a factor, I don’t want to spend $50/yard for topsoil.

I was hoping to mix the bedding with 40ish yards of marginally better soil - less clay, but not bio rich, to give me 18 inches of plantable soil.

Open to suggestions for alternatives.
 
Tilling in the chicken bedding should provide you big increase in organic matter and help make the clay soil easier to work and better with water.

That being said, once tilled in you'll need to give the organic material some time to break down and any chicken poo to mellow a bit, so time that appropriately (will depend on your climate, planting schedule/plan, etc.)
 
5 yards?!
What does this bedding look like?
What materials, other than poop?
2 months with 1-3 birds does not add up to much poop.

It was the primary coop prior to that. Up to 50 birds counting chicks.

I was attempting to point out most of the manure came prior to August.
 

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